LOS ANGELES  Bucky Lasek created all of the drama a month ago in Munich when he waited until his last run to throw down his best trick to take X Games gold in Vert.

On Saturday, the Encinitas skater set the bar high early with a tremendous first effort, and no one could match it as Lasek scored the four-peat at 40 with his fourth straight gold in X Games this season.

The victories have come after seven years of being absent from the top of the podium.

"I'm having the best year of my life, hands down," Lasek said. “A lot of people have been asking what I changed up, and the truth is I just decided to relax and have fun," Lasek said.

In the other big skateboarding competition on Saturday at the L.A. Live Event Deck, 18-year-old Nyjah Huston continued his domination of Street League skating, winning his third gold medal this year.

For Lasek, it was a familiar foe challenging him, with Carlsbad’s Pierre-Luc Gagnon again producing an effort that only the judges could truly separate from Lasek, who edged the Canadian by two points 92.33-90.33.

In the third of four runs, Gagnon, 33, landed 11 tricks to Lasek’s best of 10, and eight times he did some form of midair flip of his board with his hands. But Lasek pulled off more daring and flashy tricks, including one that he had only accomplished in an X Games best-trick competition earlier this year.

San Diegan Andy Macdonald earned his first podium spot of the season, finishing third with an 87.00. The bronze medal was his fourth in the last five years in L.A.

“Bucky was awesome today,” Gagnon said. “I got a little sketchy at the end of my best run and that cost me.”

Ironically, Lasek only nailed his last run in Munich, going from last to first. On Saturday, he struggled to finish after his first run, and was somewhat surprised his first score held up, considering the judging usually gets higher as the competition goes on.

Gagnon, the No. 1 qualifier from Friday, had the last chance to knock Lasek off, but fell toward the end of his run.

Lasek’s resurgence has been remarkable, given the youth movement in Vert and the depth of competition.

“I feel like I’m at my peak right now, at time a time when skating is more progressive than ever,” Lasek said.

In the Street skating, Huston turned a much-anticipated final into an impressive runaway victory.

Trailing Brazilian Luan Oliveira by a half-point going into the final, big-trick Impact section on a 12-foot set of stairs, Huston landed four tremendous maneuvers and beat out runner-up Chris Cole, of San Marcos, 53.00-44.60. Oliveira got the bronze with a 44.20.

The victory was Huston’s third of the X Games year, and the Huntington Beach resident missed out on a chance for a fourth when he injured his ribs and had to pull out of the Street in Germany.

“When we got to the big section I just tried to come out swinging with my hardest stuff,” Huston said. “Once I landed those I put myself in a comfortable position.”

“They used to say about Bruce Lee that he saw everything in slow motion,” Cole said. “I think that’s what Nyjah does. He can see the trick before he tries it.”

Paul Rodriguez’s effort to win gold by doing tricks “switch” – from the opposite side of his board – didn’t pay off for last year’s L.A. gold medalist. Rodriguez fell on attempts throughout the competition and finished sixth.

Notes

-- San Diegan Chad Kerley, 19, snapped the seven-year L.A. winning streak of Garrett Reynolds in the BMX Street competition, winning his first gold medal by one point.

-- San Diego County residents swept the X Games’ vertical skate competitions, winning a combined six medals in Big Air and Vert.

-- Cardiff 13-year-old Tom Schaar finished last in the Vert while trying unsuccessfully to land a 900-degree spin in each of his four runs.